October 2007 |
FEATURES
|
Manufacturier Warwick Installs New USNR Optimized Carriage In the fall of 2006, Manufacturier Warwick installed a new USNR carriage, complete with 3D LASAR™ scanning and MillExpert optimization at its mill in Woburn, Quebec. Operations Manager, Nil Dumont said, “we are proud we chose the USNR carriage and optimizer. After a year of running the system, we’re convinced we made the right choice.”
The mill runs three shifts, operating 24 hours per day processing about 400 White Pine logs per shift. Management replaced their old carriage with a new USNR carriage featuring a 42" opening with four knees and four onboard log turners. The main point of the project was to equalize production across all three shifts. With three different sawyers, the mill was getting wide variations in shift production. There might be an experienced sawyer on one shift that is very productive, and a less experienced sawyer on the next shift that only produces half as much, for example. “Since we got the new carriage and optimizer system, our production has been consistently high,” Nil confirmed. “Each sawyer is achieving similar production during the shifts, and with this system we have increased our production and recovery, and significantly lowered the amount of chips.” “One reason we selected USNR for this project is the service,” explained Nil Dumont. “The level of technical support we receive from USNR has been fantastic. The second reason is the optimizer itself. It is incredibly flexible on full breakdown.” Manufacturier Warwick has very special production requirements, processing White Pine in several different thicknesses and a wide variety of widths for the moulding market. Changes to production parameters are made every week and sometimes twice a week, so flexibility was a major factor in the mill’s decision to go with USNR MillExpert optimization. The mill reports that all aspects of the start-up went smoothly, from the carriage to the scanning and optimization. “USNR supported us on every level, from track alignment and carriage installation, to the PLC and the optimizer. We did the test on schedule and started-up right on time,” said Nil.
Andrée uses the off-line simulation abilities of the MillExpert optimizer to fine-tune the settings. “All the changes we make every week are simulated on the off-line system before we put them into production,” she said. Roland Boulanger & Co. Ltd. manufactures mouldings and wood components according to specifications for the following industries: furniture, kitchen cabinets, doors and windows, prefab homes, and coffins. Several different species of wood are used, including pine (finger-jointed and solid), oak, maple and birch, as well as (MDF) wood fibers. “I would definitely recommend this system to other mills,” said Nil. |
|
EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT Dale Bradicich is the North Eastern US Account Executive for USNR optimization products with more than 20 years of experience in sawmill equipment. He came to USNR in 2004 from HMC Corporation, where he served as Territory Sales Manager for the Midwest and Lakes States region. This year, Dale moved to Kentucky from North Carolina to be more centrally located within his territory. The new location allows him to remain accessible to customers in the MidWest, as well as New England and Eastern Canada. With a military education in Naval Aviation, Dale served in the US Marine Corps from 1981-1987, where he was promoted and received a medal for good conduct. When he was discharged, Dale began his career in the forest products industry, working in sawmill machinery manufacturing, engineering and plant management. Dale represents USNR's complete line of scanning and optimization products including the MillExpert and G3 series of optimizers. Dale enjoys being on the cutting edge of modern technological advancements, while keeping time proven traditional methods alive. Dale and his wife Cheri enjoy riding and training horses. The couple has plans to develop their new Kentucky homestead into a small equestrian facility where "off-track thoroughbreds" can be retrained for other purposes.
|
PRODUCT FEATURE
|
USNR SAW GUIDES INVENTED IN 1970 USNR manufactures saw guides in a variety of configurations for many different applications. All guides are designed using CAD Solid Modeling and manufactured to exacting standards with CNC machining technology. This provides the ultimate in part-to-part consistency, which translates to durability and sawing accuracy in the mill. USNR originally invented the saw guide in 1970 and has been designing and installing saw guides and kerf reduction technologies ever since. Many mills choose to put USNR saw guides on machines manufactured by other vendors because of this expertise. Aluminum Saw Guides are made from high-grade aluminum and are precision-ground prior to hardcoat anodizing. Hardcoat anodizing gives an aluminum surface the hardness of casehardened steel while maintaining the lightweight strength of the aluminum. The result is significantly increased wear resistance. Steel Saw Guides are made from 4140 steel and to an RC of 48-52, and are precision-ground on all critical surfaces. Heat-treated steel guides can be Chromed, Nickel Plated or Nitrited according to your preferences.
|
NEW PROJECTS
|
100 Mile Lumber of 100 Mile House, BC is upgrading its TimberGrafx transverse edger system with a new USNR MillExpert edger optimization system and new HMI system. The upgrade includes Abitibi Consolidated has ordered a 58" USNR disc chipper for its mill in Senneterre, PQ. Abitibi-Consolidated is a major producer of wood products, but the main bulk of their business is manufacturing newsprint and commercial printing papers. The company is one of the largest recyclers of newspapers and magazines in North America, diverting over a million tons of paper from landfills each year. Bearden Lumber of Bearden, AR has ordered a new USNR multi-zone double track steam kiln. The 104' dry kiln will replace an existing kiln, and the mill will use its existing USNR Kiln Boss computerized control system. Bearden Lumber has five other USNR-Irvington Moore kilns at this location to dry southern yellow pine (SYP) dimension lumber. Forest Enterprises Australia (FEA) of Tasmania, Australia has purchased several USNR MillExpert optimization systems for its new sawmill. The systems include log sorting and scaling, optimized double length infeed with optimized rotation as well as USNR PLR, the precision log rotation verification system. The new mill will also receive optimized cant breakdown, a lineal edger optimizer and a trimmer optimizer. The new mill is expected to be in operation in early 2008.
Parker Forest Products of Burnsville, NC placed an order for a 58" USNR disc chipper. The machine features a stress-relieved, dynamically balanced disc to eliminate vibrations. Made from 44W steel and CNC machined for a perfect knife fit, USNR's disc chipper is the workhorse of wastewood chippers. Produits Forestiers Temrex has ordered a new USNR Chipscreen for the mill in Nouvelle-Ouest, Quebec. Temrex Forest Products is a joint venture formed in 2002 between Tembec and SGF Rexfor. Temrex has acquired the St-Alphonse sawmill in Quebec from Produits Forestiers St-Alphonse Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SGF Rexfor, as well as Tembec's Nouvelle-Ouest sawmill, also located in the Gaspé region of Quebec. Tembec and SGF Rexfor set up Temrex in response to weak markets and the significant drop in fibre supply in the Gaspé region. Combining the Nouvelle and St-Alphonse sawmills has increased their competitiveness by consolidating around 200 sawmill jobs in the Gaspé region. The two sawmills' combined annual production is approximately 143 million board feet of green dressed and green rough spruce, pine and fir (SPF) lumber. Major markets are Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes. Rettenmeier Holzindustrie has placed an order for two new USNR primary breakdown lines along with two sorters for its new mill in Ramstein, Germany. Both the USNR small and large log lines are "single pass" log lines with no edgers, resaws or secondary breakdown equipment of any kind. The small log line can handle up to an 8" depth of cut and features a USNR profiling Quad Arbor Saw Box with a pivoting top arbor. The profiler module has the ability to create skewed sideboards in the cant, which are then sawn off by the Quad Arbor Saw Box. After turning, the cant then flows to a USNR shape-chipper canter. Shape-chipping refers to a USNR process where the cutting tools on the chipper can move along infinitely changing radiused curves.
Next, a USNR curve sawing versa gang removes the sideboards and the remaining center cant travels to a second USNR curve sawing versa gang. This curve sawing gang features five individual shifting saws and a shifting gang bank. Multiple net cutting banks provide the mill with flexible cutting patterns to accommodate the wide variety of products that Rettenmeier produces. These include rough sawn and planed lumber, tongue and groove paneling, solid wood furniture panels, as well as decking and fencing. The large log line is very similar to the small log line, but it can handle up to a 12" depth of cut and the first USNR curve sawing versa gang can take up to three sideboards per side. The remaining cant travels to a second USNR curve sawing versa gang, also with five shifting saws and a shifting gang bank, to be reduced to boards. Boards from both versa gang machines are routed to one of the two USNR pusher-lug bin sorters. Both USNR green sorters are 70-bin high-speed pusher lug sorters that can receive boards from either log line. Timbers and center boards, which can be up to 12" wide, are routed to one sorter and smaller sideboards, up to 10" wide, are routed to the second sorter. Formed by Josef Rettenmeier Sr. in 1948, the Rettenmeier company has steadily developed from a timber merchant with an associated sawmill into one of the most modern industrial firms in the timber trade. Today the company employs more than 1,450 people in a number of plants across Europe. USNR first began doing business with Rettenmeier in 1985, and has supplied a wide variety of sawmill equipment to its mills. TK Stanley recently ordered a new USNR YieldMaster G3 system with StereoScan for the carriage at its mill in Waynesboro, MS. The mill processes mixed hardwoods to make laminated mats for the logging and oil industries.
|
EVENT CALENDAR
|
Oct. 5-7 - Paul Bunyan Show The 2007 Paul Burnyan show will be held at thge Guernsey County Fairgrounds in Cambridge, OH http://www.ohioforest.org/
|
NORTH AMERICAN LOCATIONS
INTERNATIONAL LOCATIONS
This e-mail communication may contain an offer to purchase a product or service for your business. For information about this company and its products and services, contact info@usnr.com or call (800) BUY-USNR. Copyright © 2006 USNR. All Rights Reserved. To unsubscribe and OPT-OUT of receiving newsletters, please reply with REMOVE in subject line or CLICK HERE: info@usnr.com
|
